Exodus 15:7-11

15:7 In the abundance of your majesty ¹  you have overthrown ² 

those who rise up against you. ³ 

You sent forth ⁴  your wrath; ⁵ 

it consumed them ⁶  like stubble.

15:8 By the blast of your nostrils ⁷  the waters were piled up,

the flowing water stood upright like a heap, ⁸ 

and the deep waters were solidified in the heart of the sea.

15:9 The enemy said, ‘I will chase, ⁹  I will overtake,

I will divide the spoil;

my desire ¹⁰  will be satisfied on them.

I will draw ¹¹  my sword, my hand will destroy them.’ ¹² 

15:10 But ¹³  you blew with your breath, and ¹⁴  the sea covered them.

They sank ¹⁵  like lead in the mighty waters.

15:11 Who is like you, ¹⁶  O Lord, among the gods? ¹⁷ 

Who is like you? – majestic in holiness, fearful in praises, ¹⁸  working wonders?

[15:7]  ¹ sn This expression is cognate with words in v. 1. Here that same greatness or majesty is extolled as in abundance.

[15:7]  ² tn Here, and throughout the song, these verbs are the prefixed conjugation that may look like the imperfect but are actually historic preterites. This verb is to “overthrow” or “throw down” – like a wall, leaving it in shattered pieces.

[15:7]  ³ tn The form קָמֶיךָ (qamekha) is the active participle with a pronominal suffix. The participle is accusative, the object of the verb, but the suffix is the genitive of nearer definition (see GKC 358 §116.i).

[15:7]  ⁴ sn The verb is the Piel of שָׁלַח (shalakh), the same verb used throughout for the demand on Pharaoh to release Israel. Here, in some irony, God released his wrath on them.

[15:7]  ⁵ sn The word wrath is a metonymy of cause; the effect – the judgment – is what is meant.

[15:7]  ⁶ tn The verb is the prefixed conjugation, the preterite, without the consecutive vav (ו).

[15:8]  ⁷ sn The phrase “the blast of your nostrils” is a bold anthropomorphic expression for the wind that came in and dried up the water.

[15:8]  ⁸ tn The word “heap” describes the walls of water. The waters, which are naturally fluid, stood up as though they were a heap, a mound of earth. Likewise, the flowing waters deep in the ocean solidified – as though they were turned to ice (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 175).

[15:9]  ¹³ sn W. C. Kaiser observes the staccato phrases that almost imitate the heavy, breathless heaving of the Egyptians as, with what reserve of strength they have left, they vow, “I will…, I will…, I will…” (“Exodus,” EBC 2:395).

[15:9]  ¹⁴ tn The form is נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”). But this word refers to the whole person, the body and the soul, or better, a bundle of appetites in a body. It therefore can figuratively refer to the desires or appetites (Deut 12:15; 14:26; 23:24). Here, with the verb “to be full” means “to be satisfied”; the whole expression might indicate “I will be sated with them” or “I will gorge myself.” The greedy appetite was to destroy.

[15:9]  ¹⁵ tn The verb רִיק (riq) means “to be empty” in the Qal, and in the Hiphil “to empty.” Here the idea is to unsheathe a sword.

[15:9]  ¹⁶ tn The verb is יָרַשׁ (yarash), which in the Hiphil means “to dispossess” or “root out.” The meaning “destroy” is a general interpretation.

[15:10]  ¹⁹ tn “But” has been supplied here.

[15:10]  ²⁰ tn Here “and” has been supplied.

[15:10]  ²¹ tn The verb may have the idea of sinking with a gurgling sound, like water going into a whirlpool (R. A. Cole, Exodus [TOTC], 124; S. R. Driver, Exodus, 136). See F. M. Cross and D. N. Freedman, “The Song of Miriam,” JNES 14 (1955): 243-47.

[15:11]  ²⁵ tn The question is of course rhetorical; it is a way of affirming that no one is comparable to God. See C. J. Labuschagne, The Incomparability of Yahweh in the Old Testament, 22, 66-67, and 94-97.

[15:11]  ²⁶ sn Verses 11-17 will now focus on Yahweh as the incomparable one who was able to save Israel from their foes and afterward lead them to the promised land.

[15:11]  ²⁷ tn S. R. Driver suggests “praiseworthy acts” as the translation (Exodus, 137).